Minissha’s comic timing

Minissha Lamba is in the mood for some fun. That explains why three of her films this year — Hum Tum Aur Shabana, Bheja Fry 2 and Joker — are all hardcore comedies. Lamba says, “Serious films have drained me emotionally. I am happy to have explored that space and now I have got them out of my system. Now I want to work in genres that are fun.”

Although Lamba’s received a lot of critical acclaim for her performance in Dus Kahaniyaan (2007), Kidnap (2008) and especially Shyam Benegal’s Well Done Abba (2009), she now wants to only do light-hearted roles.

Even though most comic capers in the recent past have revolved around only men, Lamba is an unperturbed: “Humor is a male trait. Men naturally have a funny bone in them.”

According to her, women who do comedy or action on screen are not desirable because then they become ‘one of the boys’. “I am happy being the glamour quotient in films,” says Lamba, who is quick to add that she has a pretty decent comic timing herself. When asked why she has picked films that men have in key roles, she says, “It is a male dominated industry and I have no issue being part of such movies.”

Lamba stars opposite Shreyas Talpade in Shirish Kunder’s sci-fi comedy Joker, which also features Akshay Kumar and Sonakshi Sinha in lead roles. About Talpade, Lamba says, “I have worked with him in the past in Hum Tum Aur Shabana, so there is a great comfort level between us.”

In Bheja Fry 2, Lamba plays Vinay Pathak’s love interest. “Bheja Fry was a success and the sequel is going to be bigger and grander,” says she, adding that the sequel rides on Pathak’s character Bharat Bhushan’s shoulders. “Most of the hard work of generating and sustaining comedy is done by him. My role is important as I play his love interest and that explains my inclusion in his life,” she says.